Permanent, safety, inner doors for freight cars

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to novel inner doors adapted to fit the door frame, within the sliding doors of a freight car. The inner doors comprise upper and lower doors adapted to be secured in place by spring bolt means for easy installation and removal. The lower door is provided with a hinged section which includes a hatchway for the convenient unloading of grain and the like. With bulk merchandise, the inner doors provide easy loading and unloading.

United States Patent Gomez 51 Nov. 28, 1972 [54] Y PERMANENT, SAFETY, DOORS FOR FREIGHT CARS [72] Inventor: Juanl r'anlzisenZendejasG01nez,Av San Antonio N. 307, Mexico City, Mexico 18, D. F.

[22] Filed: July 13, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 162,197

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 874,129, Nov.

[52] US. Cl ..49/169, 49/464 [51] Int. Cl. ..E06b 3/32 [58] Field of Search ..49/169, 168, 464

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1916 firownetal ..'.4'9/169x 5/1918 Murphy ..49/169X Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey Attorney-Millen, Raptes & White ABSTRACT 'The invention is directed to novelinner doors adapted to fit the door frame, within the sliding doors of a freight car. The inner doors comprise upper and lower doors adapted to be secured in place by spring bolt means for easy installation and removal. The lower door is provided with a hinged section which includes a hatchway for the convenient unloading of grain and the like. With bulk merchandise, the inner doors provide easy loading and unloading.

PATENTEDnnvzs I972 SHEET 1 of 2 3703.787

uwan'rons JUAN FRANCISCO ZENDEJAS GOMEZ PATENTEB um 28 I972 sum 2 or 2 v INVEN'IOI JUAN FRANCISCO ZENDEJAS GOMEZ ATTORNEYS PERMANENT, SAFETY, INNER DOORS FOR FREIGHT CARS This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 874,129, filed Nov., 10, 1969.

This invention relates to improvements in railway freight car construction and more particularly to a novel arrangement of inner doors adapted to facilitate loading and unloading of the freight car.

The use of freight cars for transporting all types of merchandise presents various problems. In transporting granulated products such as grain, it is usually necessary to alter the construction of the freight car since the usual outer sliding doors are not adapted for loading and unloading grain. Furthermore, other bulk type merchandise, such as barrels and the like, raise difficulties during loading and unloading in that the sliding doors may be difficult to open and close, due to shifting of the merchandise against the doors while it is being transported.

This invention has as an object, to provide a novel inner door arrangement which can be easily adapted to fit the standard railway freight car with sliding outer doors,

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel inner door arrangement adapted to handle the loading and unloading of grain as well as bulk merchandise.

A further object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive inner door arrangement which protects merchandise during transportation and which is flexible enough to accommodate being loaded or unloaded to any height to which the freight car is loaded.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inner door arrangement which can be easily installed requiring simple spring bolt means to secure the inner doors within the freight car door posts.

The invention has other objects which are more particularly pointed out in the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a freight car showing the standard outer doors of a freight car and the novel inner door of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bottom inner door of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an upper inner door of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line FIG. 2.

In the drawings, the numeral 10 refers generally to v the inner doors of this invention and as shown in FIG. 1, they are disposed within the door frame 11 of a freight car 12 of conventional construction having usual sliding type doors 13. The inner doors 10 are recessed within the door frame 11 whereby sliding doors 13 may be normally opened and closed across the entrance to the box car.

In FIG. 2, the bottom door generally designated by the numeral 14, of the inner doors is shown. It comprises a horizontal member 15 to which a section 16 is hinged by any suitable means such as by rail means 17. Section 16 is provided with a hatchway 18 and a hinged relief door 19 which can be secured by any suitable means such as by a spring bolt 19a in the closed position across the hatchway 18. Relief door 19 is hinged to the member 15 by any suitable hinged means as section 16, such as by rail means 20.

Horizontal member 15 is formed with an upwardly projecting V-shaped portion 21 and a flange section 21a at each end for reasons to be described hereinafter. Section 16 is formed of any suitable construction preferably of horizontal beams 22, vertical and end beams 22a and back panel 23 to provide adequate strength thereto. Similarly, relief door 19 is formed of horizontal beams 24, side beams 25 and back panel 25a. The bottom door 14 can be made from wood members. It is also contemplated that the bottom door, as well as the upper doors, be fonned from a metal such as steel, aluminum, etc. with various suitable cross-sectional configurationssuch as ribbing or fluting. The bottom door 14 is removably secured to the door frame 11 by any suitable means, such as spring bolts 26 and 26a provided on each side of the horizontal member 21 and section 16. The spring bolts are spring biased for example, within a housing 27, provided with a handle 28 for moving the bolt into and out of engagement with holes (not shown) provided in door frame 11 The housing may include lubrication means.

In FIG. 3, .the upper door 29 of the inner door is shown. Its construction is similar to the bottom door and is formed of horizontal beams 30, side beams 31, back panel 32, and flanges 32a on both ends. In each side beam 31, there is provided a bolt 33 spring biased within a housing 34, similarly as in the bottom door 14.

The upper door 29 is provided with a V-shaped groove 35 and an upwardly projecting V-shaped portion 36. When the bottom door 14 is secured within the door frame 11, the upper door 29 is placed upon the bottom door by fitting groove 35 into the V-shaped portion 21 of the bottom door with flanges 32a resting against the rear of the door frame 11. The upper door 29 is secured in place by means of the spring bolts. The mating groove 35 and portion 21 provide a tight seal between the upper and bottom doors. Flanges 32a provide a similar seal between the upper doors and the door panel 11. A second upper door can be likewise secured within the door frame 11 to provide a thre section inner door.

Many advantages are derived from the inner doors of this invention. Thus, conventional box cars with sliding doors need not be significantly altered to convert them to grain cars.- In order to use the inner doors of this invention, the box car'need only be provided with holes in the sides of the door frames to permit engagement with the spring bolts 26 and 33.

When used with box cars carrying grain, bottom door 14 is installed and one or more upper doors 29 are installed to a height required depending upon how full the box car is desired to be filled. When the box car is to be emptied, relief door 19 can be opened permitting grain to exit through hatchway 18. The box car can be emptied faster by opening the entire hinged section 16 by releasing spring bolts 26a or for the removal of grain in sacks. As the box car is being emptied, the upper doors 29 can be, removed to permit access to the box car to aid in completely emptying it.

The inner doors are particularly suitable for loading and unloading freight such as containers, drums, etc. Thus, a tier of drums can be loaded on the floor of the freight car and the bottom door is then installed.

Thereafter, more tiers of drums can be loaded and upper doors 29 snugly installed against the drums until the freight car is fully loaded. This type of loading maintains the loaded merchandise and prevents shifting during transportation.

n unloading, the reverse procedure is followed, removing each upper door as each tier is unloaded. The advantage derived is the elimination of the difficulty of closing and opening the sliding doors on a box car fully loaded with drums. Additionally, the box car can be loaded and unloaded more safely with the gradual installation and removal of the inner doors.

The hinged section 16 of the bottom door 14 is illustrated without a flanged end to permit its opening after installation to unload merchandise. However, it is contemplated within the invention that flanged end portions can be provided to produce a better seal between the hinged section 16 and the door frame 11. The flanged end portions can be hinged to the side and rear of end members 22a. In this manner, the section 16 can be installed with the flanged portions behind the door frames 11. When section 16 is opened, the flanged portions will be swung inwardly and permit section 16 to open on its hinges.

From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention, and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions.

What is claimed is:

1. In a freight car and the like having a door frame opening with sliding outer doors, the improvement which comprises a removable inner door across said opening, said inner door comprising:

a. a bottom section extending across said opening comprising, a top horizontal member having flange means and spring biased bolt means at each end,

and a lower member hinged to said horizontal member including a smaller hinged relief door across a hatchway therein and spring biased bolt means disposed at each end of said lower member,

b. an upper section extending across said opening and resting on said bottom section including flanged ends adapted to overlap said door frame opening, and spring biased bolt means disposed at each end of said upper section,

wherein said upper and bottom sections are adapted to be releasably secured within said door frame opening means of said spring biased bolt means.

2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said upper and lower sections are provided with horizontal V- shaped groove means, whereby said sections are adapted to fit together.

3. The improvement of claim 1 wherein a third section is provided which rests on said second section.

4. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said spring biased bolt means are disposed within housings in said door sections and include hand operated lever means.

5. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said hinged relief door is provided with spring biased bolt means to secure it across said hatchway. 

1. In a freight car and the like having a door frame opening with sliding outer doors, the improvement which comprises a removable inner door across said opening, said inner door comprising: a. a bottom section extending across said opening comprising, a top horizontal member having flange means and spring biased bolt means at each end, and a lower member hinged to said horizontal member including a smaller hinged relief door across a hatchway therein and spring biased bolt means disposed at each end of said lower member, b. an upper section extending across said opening and resting on said bottom section including flanged ends adapted to overlap said door frame opening, and spring biased bolt means disposed at each end of said upper section, wherein said upper and bottom sections are adapted to be releasably secured within said door frame opening means of said spring biased bolt means.
 2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said upper and lower sections are provided with horizontal V-shaped groove means, whereby said sections are adapted to fit together.
 3. The improvement of claim 1 wherein a third section is provided which rests on said second section.
 4. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said spring biased bolt means are disposed within housings in said door sections and include hand operated lever means.
 5. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said hinged relief door is provided with spring biased bolt means to secure it across said hatchway. 